Spider in the jar: peace, Arakhamia, Budanov

PEACE INTRIGUES, ELITE STRUGGLES. Artvertex Inc. 'His name sounded like a rattlesnake'. The internet party of Ukraine. Shady tech startups, the CIA, Microsoft, crypto millionaires, the peace corps.

Peace - what is it good for? Today we will dive into the latest claims, denials, and counter-denials regarding a ceasefire in Ukraine. They come from USAID-funded media, non-aligned Ukrainian media, Turkish media, Zelensky’s ‘Centre for the Prevention of Disinformation’, and spy kingpin Budanov.

Then we get into the latest antics splitting up Ukraine’s elite. It turns out that head of Zelensky’s party’s parliamentary fraction, David Arakhamia, is trying to present himself as an alternative peace channel to head of the presidential administration Andriy Yermak. Yermak, generally considered either number 2 or number 1 in the country, isn’t happy.

Then I go into a fascinating history of Arakhamia’s past - ‘the mysterious American spider in Zelensky’s jar’. And where doesn’t this take us:

Sochi, Abkhazia, Mykolaiv. Spotted as a child by the peace corps. US tech startups and Madagascan-registered tech scams. Artvertex Inc, Brooklyn. FBI investigations into the good 'David Braun'. Arakhamia's 'TemplateMonster', with an unnamed 'senior partner' from the former USSR. His work with Dmytro Holubov, nickname Script, head of the Internet Party of Ukraine, crypto millionaire, later arrested for fraud. Arakhamia's CIA, Microsoft links. CarderPlanet.org. Arakhamia sells his assets in 2013 to a private equity fund, flies back in time for the 2014 euromaidan coup, then finally gets a Ukrainian passport in 2015 - but he was already working in government before that. Kolomoisky and unnamed post-soviet big bosses.

After looking more closely at the Arakhamia-Yermak struggle and how it relates to the ongoing parliamentary crisis, we close with some speculations on the future. Will the mysterious spider (Arakhamia) work with spooklord Budanov (a fan of owls) to replace Zelensky? Read on to find out more.